After the City Council in Charlotte, North Carolina, passed the so-called “Bathroom Bill” intended to protect transgender people by allowing them to use the bathroom of their choice in local businesses, GOP state lawmakers are vowing to reverse the bill. One of the state senators opposing the legislation, David Curtis, called it “inappropriate” and going against the “rules in our society”. He is joined in his criticism by Governor Pat McCrory who believes the bill could possibly endanger other customers, telling the Charlotte Observer that “this shift in policy could also create major public safety issues by putting citizens in possible danger from deviant actions by individuals taking improper advantage of a bad policy.”

In several states, bills designed to protect trans people’s rights by allowing them to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity, have been attacked based on such irrational fears from conservative legislators. The ACLU of North Carolina, however, applauded the city council’s decision: “With this vote, North Carolina’s largest city has affirmed that all people deserve to be treated fairly and protected by the law,” Executive Director Sarah Preston said in a statement. “When a business decides to open its doors to the public, it should be open to everyone on the same terms. We applaud Charlotte’s council members for making their city more safe, welcoming, and inclusive, and we urge municipal leaders across the state to follow their example.”

This is a disgrace. Where is the UK foreign office in all of this? Aras Amiri now joins another British-Iranian, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, in notorious Evin prison on bogus charges. @foreignofficehttps://t.co/DJX0knhdot